Washington: There has been a substantial increase in denial of H-1B visa petitions of Indians by the US immigration authority as compared to people of other nationalities, according to a report by an American non-profit body.
Also, Indian applicants received the most number of ‘request for evidence’ for applications than the people from other countries, said the National Foundation for American Policy report, compiled on the basis of the information received from the US Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS).
USCIS makes an inquiry called a ‘request for evidence’, or RFE, when they require additional evidence to make a decision on a H-1B case. Failure to comply with an adjudicator’s RFE will result in the denial of an application.
In the fourth quarter of FY 2017, 72% of H-1B cases for Indians received RFEs, compared to 61% for those from others countries. “Data analysed over the years show USCIS adjudicators deny more applications and issue a higher rate of requests for evidence for Indians on both H-1B and L-1 petitions,” the report said.
Also, there was a 42% increase in the proportion of H-1B petitions denied for India-born professionals from the third to the fourth quarter of FY 2017. In the third quarter, 16.6% of the completed H-1B cases for Indians were denied compared to 23.6% in the fourth quarter.
Similarly, there was a 40% increase in the proportion of H-1B petitions that USCIS adjudicators denied for professionals from countries other than India from the third to fourth quarter, rising from a denial rate of 14% in the third quarter to 19.6% in the fourth quarter.
The report said that H-1B denials and requests for evidence increased significantly in the fourth quarter of FY 2017, likely due to new Trump administration policies. As a percentage of completed cases, the request for evidence rate was approximately 69% in the fourth quarter compared to 23% in the third quarter of FY 2017, the report said.
The proportion of H-1B petitions denied for foreignborn professionals increased by 41% increase from the third to the fourth quarter of FY 2017, rising from a denial rate of 15.9% in the third quarter to 22.4% in the fourth quarter, it said.
The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. An L-1 visa is a visa document used to enter the US for the purpose of work. It is a non-immigrant visa and is valid for a relatively shorter period of time — from three months to five years. (PTI)
